The One Where They Were Just Acting
by matteneydreamer
Summary: Matthew and Courteney are finally going to have their first kiss as Chandler and Monica post-London. Matthew has secretly been pining over Courteney for the past 6 months and he's terrified that kissing her is going to further ignite his feelings.
1. Chapter 1

_Author note: I've been a huge Friends fan since it originally aired. Back in the day, I became quite obsessed and made my own Chandler and Monica fan page which sadly (thankfully) I can't find today. Over Christmas, MTV aired a Friends marathon and I was taken right back to high school and my Mondler obsession came back. Pregnancy hormones have left me reading many a Mondler/Matteney fanfiction, so I decided to give writing a shot to take my mind off feeling like crap. :) I'll continue this story if there's enough interest._

"So today's the day, man! Are you excited?" Matt reached in front of Matthew and grabbed a muffin off the table.

"Excited for what, the new muffin selection?" Matthew joked and picked up a chocolate chip muffin, admiring it and nodding his head.

Matt looked exasperated and spit crumbs on Matthew as he said, "Dude, you get to start making out with Courteney today!" Matthew laughed and put the chocolate chip muffin back on the tray. "I didn't really look at it that way," he shrugged.

"Seriously, man? C'mon, the thought must have crossed your mind." Matt raised his eyebrows and took another bite of his muffin, looking skeptically at Matthew.

"Not really. I mean... when we first heard that Monica and Chandler were going to hook up in London, we didn't think it would go beyond that." Matthew started picking up muffins again, pretending to take a sudden interest in them to avoid looking directly at Matt.

"Yeah, but you heard Marta and Dave. If the fans are receptive to you guys being together, they might make it a regular thing! Think about how much action you're going to get with Court!" Matt exclaimed. Matthew frowned at him. "It's not action. We're just acting- you've done it a million times with all the random girls Joey goes through."

"But what if you guys have amazing chemistry? You never know what could happen," Matt smiled at Matthew. Matthew just laughed and shook his head.

"Alright everyone, we're filming the first scene in five. Let's go!" The production team announced and Matthew was thankful for the out. Matt shoved the rest of the muffin in his mouth and headed out of the room. Matthew lingered at the food table for a moment to take a breath. The truth is, he had put a _lot_ of thought into today. Over the past six months, Matthew had developed a painfully secret crush on Courteney. When he found out that Chandler and Monica would be hooking up, he was both elated and terrified. Elated that he could somewhat live out his fantasy of being with Courteney, but also terrified at how crushing it could be to him. He wasn't afraid of a lack of chemistry and the disappointment of a built up fantasy. It was the opposite. Matthew was afraid that kissing Courteney would be as amazing as he had imagined, and that it would make it that much more painful for him to deal with his secret crush.

Matthew sighed at his dilemma and checked his watch. He needed to get on set. "Well," he whispered to himself. "It's just acting." Somehow, he wasn't convincing himself.

"Okay Lisa, get ready to put the bowl on your belly!" The director called out.

"Don't worry, I've been practicing a lot. I've never spilled a fruit loop!" Lisa proudly smiled.

Matthew, Courteney and Matt waited outside of Monica's apartment door until they waited for the director's cue to enter the apartment. They go through the scene, stopping to redo it a couple of times as Matt made improvised jokes about Lisa balancing things on her stomach- jokes that weren't appropriate to air. Matthew was trying not to let his nervousness and impatience show as it got closer and closer to his kiss with Courteney.

Finally they got through the scene with the four of them. When Monica and Chandler were alone, Matthew had to keep silently reminding himself that he and Courteney were just acting. The flirty looks and giggles were from Monica, not Courteney. It was easy for Matthew to deliver his lines as Chandler, as he couldn't help but imagine him saying those things to Courteney.

Finally, Chandler left Monica's apartment after saying that he should go unpack. Matthew only had a few seconds of being on the other side of the door before he had to open it again and go back into the apartment. Matthew squeezed his eyes shut and said quietly to himself "This is it. It's just acting." He took a deep breath, and opened the apartment door again.

He opens his arms in a gesture and says, "I'm still on London time, does that count?" Courteney looks at Matthew with lust in her eyes and voice and said desperately, "Oh, that counts." What unfolded next happened so quickly that Matthew didn't have time to remind himself that he was just acting. Courteney and Matthew stepped towards each other and embraced. Matthew's breath caught in his throat as he felt Courteney's lips press against him, finally. Her lips were even softer than he had imagined, and he thought he felt her gasp a little as their lips touched. It felt like electricity was running through Matthew's body as he held her waist and felt her hands on the back of his neck. Courteney brushed her hand against Matthew's ear as she moved her hands to cup his face. The slight touch made Matthew weak in the knees and he couldn't help but let out a small groan of pleasure. He desperately hoped that Courteney thought he was just getting into character, but at the same time he didn't care enough right now. Caught up in the moment, Matthew brought his right hand up to Courteney's face and caressed her cheek with his knuckles. He thought he heard a moan from Courteney, but it was hard to hear over the audiences cheering.

"And cut!" yelled the director. Matthew and Courteney pulled away from each other's lips, the audience still going crazy over Chandler and Monica's first kiss. With his hands still on her waist, Matthew saw something different in Courteney's eyes as she smiled at him, looking almost sheepish.

"Well, I guess that was a long time coming for the audience," Courteney grinned and looked out at the crowd who were still noisy. Matthew smiled at her and said, "Yeah... I hope we made it believable". Courteney smiled back at Matthew and gave the hand that she was still holding a small squeeze. "I don't think we have to worry about that." Matthew's heart flipped. Courteney was probably talking about their convincing acting, but a small part of him allowed himself to believe for just a second that maybe she had felt the same thing he did when they kissed. He smiled back at her as the crowd died down and the directors started shuffling everyone around for the next scene.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you so much for the kind reviews and feedback! Here's a little teaser to tide you over until I write about the bathtub scene. :) Comments and suggestions are welcome.**

"Eight ball, corner pocket." With a crack of the pool ball, Matthew chuckles to himself. "I've always wanted to say that." Matthew walked around the perimeter of the pool table, taking billiard balls out of each pocket and putting them in the middle of the table, getting ready to rack them up for a third time. He took a swig from his beer bottle, and perched it back on the bar.

It was the evening before shooting season five, episode two. Matt had invited Matthew and David over to have a beer and watch the game, but Matthew declined. He wanted to be alone tonight so he could sort out his thoughts and get a grip on himself. After episode one had wrapped, Matthew's worst nightmare had come true- he was falling harder for Courteney than ever before. After their passionate kiss as Chandler and Monica, Matthew couldn't help but steal glances of Courteney throughout the rest of the taping. Something about her made her glow even more beautifully than ever before. The feeling of her lips on his had left Matthew desperate for more. After the filming had wrapped and the cast came out to take their bows for the crowd, Courteney had grabbed Matthew's hand to bow like she had a hundred times before. This time though, Matthew's heart skipped a bit and he was desperately hoping that she couldn't feel his pulse beating quickly as his emotion for her raced through his body. The night, and for several days after, Matthew replayed the scene of them kissing in his head. He tortured himself with remembering her intoxicating smell, the way she grabbed at the back of his neck, the way it felt to have her body pressed against his. Every time he replayed the moment, the same thoughts swirled in his head- did Courteney feel something? Anything? It was undeniable that they had chemistry together. How much of it was acting and how much of it was... something more?

Back in his living room, Matthew shook his head to get the imagine of holding Courteney's hand out of his head. "Get a grip, Perry", he said to himself as he racked up the billiard balls. As he picked up his pool cue, his cell phone rang. He set the pool cue against the table and reached past his beer to pick up his phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Matty!" It's me." Matthew felt his heart race again when he heard the voice on the other line.

"Hey! Ahem- hey, Court. What's up?" Matthew tried to sound casual as he leaned against the bar, hoping that his casual stance would translate to his voice.

"Not much. Just going over lines for tomorrow. I still can't believe we have to do a bathtub scene! Don't you think that'll be awkward with the whole crew staring at us?" Courteney asked.

"Oh, not at all. In fact, I was thinking I'd bring a few things for the tub to make it more fun. I have a GI Joe collection that has a wind up guy that swims under water. But you'll have to watch out, because I am not responsible for his trajectory once he's in the tub."

"Matty!" Courteney laughed which made Matthew smile. "I guess it won't be that weird. I mean, we won't _actually_ be naked."

Just the sound of Courteney saying those words created quite a picture in Matthew's head, and he shifted his body as he suddenly was starting to feel a little warm.

"Well, we should both probably get some rest. We don't want to look tired in the tub. The makeup crew can only make us look so good when we're soaking wet," Matthew said into the phone.

Courteney laughed again. "You're probably right. See you in the morning. Night Matty."

"Night, Court," Matthew said softly into the phone. He hung up, put his phone back on the bar and picked up his beer. Walking over to his couch, he sat down and leaned back. Closing his eyes tight, Matthew whispered to himself, "Remember... it's just acting." He chuckled wryly and took a final swig of beer before calling it a night. "Keep telling yourself that, _Matty_."


End file.
